Spousal Loans without the Spousal Groans

Would you rather undergo a double root canal without anesthetic than risk marital Armageddon by asking your spouse to sign a promissory note to borrow money he or she probably thinks is half theirs already? While I applaud your common sense and instincts for self-preservation, the rest of this article is about trying to get you to do this anyway. To be clear, I am not asking that you attempt to change a relationship based on love and affection into one based on dollars without sense; instead, I am merely proposing that you take advantage of current tax rules in order to stretch family finances just a little bit further. Hopefully, the next few pages will change your mind. Of course, if by the end of the article you’re in love with the potential savings but worried about your spouse falling out of love with you as a consequence, not to worry: with the money you’ll be saving, you’ll easily be able to afford a conciliatory trip for two for somewhere special, or to even pay for family counseling if things are particularly frosty. Read more

Budget 2015

Before diving into this month’s article on the 2015 Federal Budget, I wanted to pass along some other news that I hope helps the cause. First, for those of you who haven’t already got the memo, the wholesale changes to life insurance and annuity taxation originally scheduled for 2016 won’t be effective until 2017.  For those of you considering permanent life insurance or those retirees considering buying an annuity with non-registered loot, this gives you one extra year to take the plunge, as products purchased before the impending changes will continue to benefit from today’s rules.  There are also a couple rather clever investment strategies using specially designed universal life insurance policies that won’t be nearly as attractive in the future. Single Pay policies that allow you to shelter a lifetime’s worth of tax and potentially creditor-sheltered payments will no longer offered. In addition, multiple life policies that insure several generations at the same time while also sheltering additional investment dollars will no longer be able to pay out the entire investment account tax-free at the first death unless the policy is in place before the deadline. Read more

Joint Adventures: The Dos and Don’ts of Owning Assets Jointly for Estate Planning Purposes

Introduction

If you happen to live in provinces like Alberta or Quebec with only token probate fees, planning to avoid them may be like wearing a tuxedo to barbeque– far more of a hassle than it’s worth.  Both these provinces have capped fees that will probably cost you less than a two night’s stay at a good hotel. Yes, there is still the hassle and delays that can go along with the probate fee.  You may also need to pay a legal wordslinger to guide you through the process, which can add several thousand dollars more to the bill but, most of the time, the total bill still isn’t enough to motive most of us to take additional steps while above ground. Furthermore, Quebec has different laws than the rest of Canada anyway, so the rest of this article doesn’t apply to those of us who own chateaus by the St. Lawrence in any event. Read more